Women's World Cup 2023 outright predictions and free football tips

Best bets

Germany to win the Women's World Cup
2pts each-way 8-1 bet365, Hills

France to reach the semi-finals
2pts 8-5 Betfair, Paddy Power

Women's World Cup 2023 predictions

With an expanded field of teams and more than one million tickets sold, the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand promises to be the most significant yet.

This summer's Women's World Cup will be both the first to feature 32 teams and the first to be co-hosted by multiple nations with Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland and Wellington among the host cities.

Set to be the most-attended standalone women's sporting event in history, the 2023 tournament welcomes debutants such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Panama and Ireland but the usual suspects remain at the head of the betting.

With four World Cup titles to their name, including the last two in 2015 and 2019, the USA are once again the team to beat.

The Stars and Stripes have never finished worse than third at a Women's World Cup and have won all eight of their matches this year, conceding only once.

But since their last triumph four years ago, the competition from across the globe, most notably in Europe, has strengthened.

There are reservations about head coach Vlatko Andonovski after the team failed to make the final at the Tokyo Olympics, while the absence of prolific forward Mallory Swanson and captain Becky Sauerbrunn will do them no favours.

England lead a four-pronged European challenge on the USA after winning their first major trophy under the astute Sarina Wiegman at Euro 2022, and the Lionesses were on a 30-match unbeaten run before defeat to Australia in April.

Consistent team selection has been key in the Wiegman era but she will be forced to rotate more this summer given England will be without Euro 2022 top scorer Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson, while Fran Kirby is also injured and Ellen White has retired.

This will not be the same England team we saw last year and they will of course be without home advantage this time.

England ultimately look too short as do Spain, who have had an eventful year off the pitch with 15 players declaring themselves unavailable for selection last September due to the hostile environment under manager Jorge Vilda, who remains in charge.

Despite the return of a few players and the fact Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas is back from injury, there is just too much uncertainty surrounding La Roja.

That brings us to Germany and France, who could both be in for great campaigns.

France shone in the group stage of Euro 2022, opening with a 5-1 thrashing of Italy, and made the semi-finals but a fractured relationship between manager Corinne Diacre and her players threatened to hold them back.

But in March this year Diacre departed and Herve Renard, a manager with heaps of international experience, has taken charge.

Renard could be key to unlocking the potential of a squad featuring Kadidatou Diani and Grace Geyoro among others and a run to the semi-finals is not beyond them.

But, while the entertaining and unpredictable Brazil, stubborn Sweden and optimistic hosts Australia are all worth keeping an eye on,  Germany make the strongest claim for the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Of the tournament's big guns, Germany look the most settled with no major injuries or off-field issues to contend with and they are the only nation other than the USA to have won the Women's World Cup more than once.

They were finalists at Euro 2022, taking England to extra-time at Wembley, and they did so without star striker Alexandra Popp in the final.

The growth of the Frauen-Bundesliga has seen an improvement in the national pool of players with striker Lea Schuller, who bagged 14 goals in the league last season and 15 goals in European qualifying for the World Cup, getting better and better.

Lena Oberdorf, Sara Dabritz and Lina Magull, meanwhile, make up one of the tournament's strongest midfield trios and in Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, they have a manager with plenty of knowhow.

Both of the Women's World Cups won by Germany took place outside Europe - in the USA in 2003 and in China in 2007 - and they can pick up a third title down under this summer.

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